Apparatus for cleaning out conduits and the like



All@ 4, 1931. '.1. c. MILLER 1,817,015

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OUT CONDUITS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 26. .1928 2Sheets-Sheet l Aug 4, 1931- J; c.- MILLER 1,817,015

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OUT CONDITS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 26, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 4, 1931 i l l 9 UNITED STATES PATENT ermeeJOHN C. MLLER, GF CHIfAGO, ILLINOIS APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OUTCOll-TDUETS AND THE LIKE Application filed Gctober 26,' 1928. Serial No.315,155.

This invention relates to apparatus for ln use, the coil l is adapted tobe forced cleaning out conduits and the like, such as into circuitouspassageways, such' as the fiues in furnaces and the water passagewayswater ijiassagewa-fs of the flushing bowl,

- in sinks, flushing bowls, and the like. lt with the hook l2 passinginwardly so as to 5 has, for one of its objects, providing a long catchonto any obstacle that may be in the A55 flexible device, with soinecleaning means atpassageway, such as a rag; and to assist taclied to itsend, arranged so that the cleanin this and also to assist in forcing thehook king means can be forced inwardly long disbeyond obstructions, thecoil is rotated. 'lhe tances through circuitous passageways for coilsl() and ll, being composed of wire l@ cleaning the passageways out orfor removsgirally wound, coact with any sharp corners ing obstacles fromthe passageways, either and screw along on the corner as rotated unbyforcing them inwardly or, more particutil the hook passes theobstruction. larly, by attaching the device to the obstacle ln order toassist in this process, however,

l and pulling it outwardly. l provide a rounded or oval shaped device Aparticular object of this invention is 13 which is screwed onto the ondof the coil 65 to provide means for cleaning out the pas l0 and fastenedthereon in any suitable mansageways and, particularly, the sealing trapsner. The rounded periphery of this device of liushing bowls, and for thepurpose of assists materially in passing beyond certain illustrating theinvention, itis shown as corners of the passageway.

used for that purpose. It is to be under- To assist in rotating thecoil, l provide stood, however, that it may be used for vara handle 14with a bore extending clear ious other purposes, such as those speciliedthrough into which the coil l0 passes and,

above. by means of a thumb screw l5 or in any suit- Of the accompanyingdrawings, Fig. l is able manner, the handle may be shifted to anelevation of a device which embodies the any convenient position on thecoil. It will features of my invention, showing it apbe understood thatthe coilmay be verv plied to the cleaning of a toilet liusliing longand, at the saine time, the handle inay bowl; Fig. 2 is an enlargedelevation of the be shifted so as to be used in the most condeviceitself with the support rotated venient position.

LJ with reference to Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a sec- Although the coil l0 maybe used as .ile- 80 tional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; scribedfor many purposes, yet, for other Fig. l is a sectional view along theline purposes,l prefeipto use in conjunction w'th -fl of Fig. 3; Fig. 5is a modification of this coil an inner coil 20. rEhe outer diythedevice of Fig. 4e; Fig. 6 is a sectional arneter of this coil beingsomewhat smaller view along the line 6 6 of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 than the boreof the .main coil l0, the coil S5 is a modification of a portion of thefea- 2O may be slipped clear through the main ture 13 of the device; andFig. 8 is a bottom coil with its inner end projecting out of the planview of the handle shown in Fig. 3. inner end of the main coil, and thehook l2 In general, my invention comprises a long is fixed to the end ofthe inner coil. it coil of wire 10, which is used for the pur- By theuse of this inner coil, the main coil ou pose of forcing the cleaningattachment into is strengthened without interfering matothe passageways.The attachment 1l shown rially with its flexibility, so that it may beis more particularly applicable to the reshoved inwardly with more forceand, if moval of obstacles from the passageway. In necessary if the maincoil should refuse to this case, the attachment is a coil of wire moveinwardly further, the inner coil may f 9 l1 which has some hooking meansl2 fixed be forced inwardly still further, carrying to the end; thehoolr itself may be attached with it the attachment l2 which,preferably, to the end of the flexible coil 10, or it may is acontinuation of the coil ll, and the coil be attachedlto the end ofanother coil 20 1l is preferably the inner end of the conas hereinafterdescribed. tinuous coil 20. When the hook is merely 1n@ a part of thecoil 20, it is fully as flexible as the coil. For the purpose ofmanipulating both of these coils, I provide a second handle 2l slidablymounted on the two coils and with set screws 22 and 23 by which it canbe fixed to both coils or to either' one alone. By means of this handleand the set screws 22, both handlescan be set on the coil 10 if desired,or, by setting both set screws 22 and 23, the handle 2l may beset on thetwo coils so as to prevent relative movement thereof, or, if desired, byloosening the set screw 22 and tightening the screw 23, the coils can berotated with reference to each other, or the inner coil may be forcedinwardly or pulled' outwardly with reference to the outer coil. Inrotating the coils relatively, the large coil is held by the handle 2aand the small coil by the handle 2l.

It is to be understood, however, that either of these coils may be usedalone, the larger one for certain passageways, such as those of flushingbowls, and the other for other passageways, such as those of the trapsof washing bowls. In either case, the hook l2 or other attachments maybe fixed to the inner end. l

However, the cleaning device is often much more effectively used when itis used in connection with the means which I have provided for holdingthe coil as it is being manipulated. It will be understood that, as the.attachment is being worked into the passageway by the coil, the coil isrotated so as to give a twisting motion to the attachment. But tolmanipulate the coil in this manner, I find it desirable to have somemeans of providing a bearing for the support and rotation of the coil.

lWhen used with flushing bowls, themeans Vwhich I provide for a' bearingfor the coil comprises a plate 25 which, preferably, is made to coverthe top of the bowl 24. Also, preferably, it has a lid 2G hinged to theplate 25 which can be raised as desired. For

- sanitary purposes, I prefer to keep' the bowl entirely covered in thisway. Passing through the board 25 is a tube 27 having a bend 28 on itslower end adapt-ed to be passed under the edge of the wall 30 whichforms the outer end of the passageway. To protect the wall, I provide onthe bend a rubber tube 3l. In adjusting the apparatus to the bowl, theboard is placed over the bowl and the tube 27 is pushed downwardly untilthe end 28 is hooked onto the wall, the springs 32 (Fig. 2) yieldinglyholding the tube and board snugly in position.

Aalthough the plate 25 and the springs 32 will hold the device inposition suitably for many purposes, yet, to hold them more rigidly, Iprovide a handle 35 pivoted to a clamp 36 which is adjustably mounted onthe tube 27. Fixed to the handle is a cam 37 arranged so that when thehandle is forced downwardly the cam will pull the tube 27 upwardly withreference to the plate 25 and, thus, hold the entire outfit more rigidlyin position. rEhe clamp 36 is adjustably mounted on the tube in thefollowing manner, although it may be adjustably mounted in other ways.Fixed on the periphery of the tube are grooves 40 and correspondingprojections i-l are fixed in the bore of the clamp. Normally, the clampwill open sufliciently so that the projections will pass freely over thetube and the grooves but, as the handle 35 is passed downwardly, aprojection a9 fixed to the inner arm l2 of the handle, and acting on acam surface 43, will press the clamp arm 1li. towards the arm 45 and,thus, will force the projections 4l into the corresponding recesses 4:0and hold the clamp firmly in position. In order that the two cams #l3-and 37 may coact properly together, I provide means for varying thelength of the arm 46. Although various means may be used forthispurpose, I prefer to provide a plate 47 which is pivoted at 39between the two arms 46 and a screw 48 threaded in one arm is adapted toforce the plate 47 against the other arm and hold it rigidly in anyadjusted position.

A modification of this cam arrangement comprises a forked handle 50which is pivoted to the arms 51 of the corresponding clamp 52 and hasprojections 53 on the inner end of each arm of the fork 50, which coactwith cam surfaces 54 on the sides of the arms 5l which correspond to thecam surfaces lf3. This arrangement may have cam arms similar to the arms46 of the handle 35 or be otherwise arranged.

When thus supported, the tube 27 forms a support or bearing for the coill0, or 20, or both, and the'operator is able to force the coildownwardly through the tube 27 and the bend 28 and around through thepassagewaysfof the bowl, and he is also able to conveniently rotate thecoil l0 as itis being pushed down. Particularly when manipulating thetwo coils l0 and 20, this arrangement is desirable, as the operator isthen free to give his entire attention and both hands to manipulatingthe coils and, particularly, in operating the coils relative to eachother.

To adapt the apparatus to various devices, for'instance, to flushingbowls of different shapes, I prefer to mountthe tube 27 rotatably in theplate 25. Itis sometimes desirable to have the hook 28 of the tuberelative to the plate, as shownV in Fig. l, or rotated through 90, asshown in Fig. 2, or rotated through 1800, or otherwise. As arranged, thetube 27 can be freely rotated with reference to the plate by looseningthe set screw 60. For the purpose of holding the various memberssubstantially in position, and for other reasons, I provide a coil llOkspring 61 mounted on the tube between the collar 33 and the plate, or,preferably, between the collar and a plate 62 mounted on the under sideof the plate 25.

It is also desirable to slidably mount the tube 27 in the plate 25 and,for this purpose, I provide a slot G5 in the plate 25 and n the upperends of the springs are shifted accordingly and no inconvenienceresults.

It will be understood that other modifications could be made in thedetails of the apparatus which I have illustrated and described hereinby those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of myinvention as disclosed by the following claims.

Y For instance, the device 13 may be replaced by a device which may becomposed of independent wire and in any manner fastened onto the innerend of the tube 10. I prefer, however, to form this bulge 70 by windingback on itself thewires of the coil 10, so that it will be rigidly andconveniently fixed to the coil l0. It will be understood that, byremoving the handles from the coils, one or both of them may be slippedfrom the tube 27 and the coils may then be used independent of thesupporting apparatus or, if desired, the coils may be reversed so thatthe normal outer ends may be used inwardly; and any suitable attachmentsmay be connected therewith, such as the cork-screw coil 71.

f 'Ihe coils 10 and 20 may be made of any suitable material. I prefer,however, for the purpose to make them of music or piano wire. IVhile Ido not wish to be limited to the dimensions specified, yet, I rprefer tomake the outer coil with an outer diameter of substantially 7/16 and outof piano wire having a diameter of about .118, and the inner coil withan outer diameter of about 8/6 and from piano wire of .substantially.071 in diameter.

When the coils are made of suitable piano wire, they are very flexiblebut strong and not easily bent. For instance, the hook 12 on the end ofthe coil 2O can be pulled through the coil 10 and also through eitherhandle without being permanently bent.

I claim:

1. A passageway cleaner comprising a long flexible coil of spring wire,a cleaning attachment fixed to one end of the coil, a handle slidablymounted on the coil, the adjacent turns of the coil being substantiallyin contact, and a collar mounted on the attachment end of said coil withthe attachment projecting, the periphery of said collar beingoval-shaped.

2. A passageway cleaner as claimed in claim 1, in which said collarcomprises a coil of wire with its outer end fixed to said firstmentioned coil.

8. A passageway cleaner comprising a long flexible coil of spring wire,a handle slidably mounted on the coil, the adjacent turns of the coilbeing substantially in contact, a collar mounted on the attachment endof said coil, the periphery of said collar being oval-shaped, and asecond elongated coil, said second coil being longer than and slidablymounted in said first mentioned coil, and a cleaning attachment fixed toone end of said second coil.

4. A passageway cleaner support comprising a tube adapted to receive inits bore a liexible rod or coil, a plate having an opening therethroughin which said tube is mounted, said plate being adapted to be placedagainst a member fixed with reference to said passageway, said tubehaving means on its inner end for attaching to a member fixed withreference to said passageway, and means for pressing said plate towardssaid inner end relative to said tube.

5. A passageway cleaner support as claimed in claim 4, in which saidmeans comprises a handle fixed to said tube outside of said plate andcam means adapted to press against said plate as the handle is operated.

6. A passageway cleaner support as claimed in claim 4, in which saidmeans comprises a handle slidably mounted on said tube and means adaptedto hold said handle rigidly relative to said tube as said handle isoperated, and other means tending to press said plate towards said innertube end as said handle is operated.

7. A passageway cleaner support as claimed in claim 4, and alsocomprising yielding means for holding said tube against movementinwardly in said board, said tube and yielding means being slidablymounted with reference to said plate.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand.

JOHN C. MILLER.

